Environmental Research Letters Archives

March 20, 2025

Past greenhouse gas emissions may raise sea levels by nearly two feet, study finds

By Dana Drugmand

Heat-trapping emissions released over more than a century and a half by the world’s largest fossil fuel and cement producers are projected to cause global sea levels to rise about one to two feet through the year 2300, even if future emissions are drastically cut, according to new peer-reviewed research.

The study, published March 18 in the journal Environmental Research Letters, is the first to measure how past greenhouses gas emissions from fossil fuel companies may contribute to future long-term sea level rise, one of the consequences of human-caused climate change, according to the authors.

“This research contributes to the growing body of work that quantifies how fossil fuel producers’ past emissions will harm future generations,” Delta Merner, co-author of the study and associate director of the Science Hub for Climate Litigation at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said in a statement. “Island and coastal communities will bear the disproportionate brunt of the impacts of sea level rise over time, including infrastructure damage, habitat loss, saltwater intrusion, increased flooding, economic burdens and forced displacements.”

The researchers also found that nearly half (37% to 58%) of present-day surface air temperature rise and about one-third (24% to 37%) of global mean sea level rise to date can be attributed to the historical emissions of the 122 biggest oil, gas, coal, and cement producers, known as the ‘Carbon Majors.’ The study builds on previous analyses examining how emissions stemming from these companies’ products contribute to climate change impacts including surface warming, sea level rise, and drying conditions that help fuel wildfires.

September 7, 2023

US failing to account for full extent of drinking water concerns in vulnerable communities

By Carey Gillam

US environmental regulators are failing to adequately account for how extensively vulnerable communities are exposed to contaminated drinking water, a new study has determined.

From 2018-2020, one in ten people in the United States were exposed to water quality violations that could impact their health, the study found. And roughly 70% of those affected are considered “socially vulnerable” under a range of factors that include race, language, disability, and housing vacancy rates.

The exposure risk was particularly noteworthy for Hispanic populations throughout the southwest and southcentral US. And when looking at people living on tribal lands, the numbers were more alarming: three in ten people were exposed to health-based water quality violations, the researchers found.

Overall, the number of people exposed to drinking water violations is more than three times greater than the number of people identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to the analysis. The authors note that current federal environmental justice tools leave out other factors important for identifying inequities in water quality.

“The current White House and EPA [environmental justice] tools do not seem to be appropriate for drinking water,” said lead author Bridget Scanlon, senior research scientist with the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas.

The findings add to evidence that broad swaths of the population are struggling to access clean drinking water, and they come at a critical time, as the Biden Administration and US states are deploying funds aimed at addressing drinking water access and quality around the country.

The EPA has pledged $50.4 million in funding for states to improve drinking water infrastructure for small, underserved, and disadvantaged communities. More broadly, the White House has earmarked more than $50 billion to improve US water infrastructure.

By not fully accounting for the people impacted by water quality violations, the program is in danger of falling short, the authors of the new paper warn.